Harold Darke | |
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| Born | Harold Edwin Darke (1888-10-29)29 October 1888 London, England |
| Died | 28 November 1976(1976-11-28) (aged 88) Cambridge, England |
| Occupation(s) | Organist, composer |
| Era | 20th-century |
| Spouse | Dora Garland |
Harold Edwin Darke (29 October 1888 – 28 November 1976) was an English composer and organist. He is particularly known for his choral compositions, which are an established part of the repertoire ofAnglican church music. Darke had a fifty-year association with the church ofSt Michael, Cornhill, in theCity of London.
Darke was born inHighbury, north London, the youngest son of Samuel Darke and Arundel Bourne. He attendedDame Alice Owen's School inIslington.[1] His initial teachers were Arthur Berridge and Fountain Meen.[2]
In 1903 he gained a scholarship to theRoyal College of Music where his teachers wereFrank Bridge,Walter Parratt,Hubert Parry,Charles Villiers Stanford,Charles Wood, andHerbert Sharpe.[3][4]
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His first organist post came in 1904 at theStoke Newington Presbyterian Church.[3] From 1906–11 he was the organist atEmmanuel Church, West Hampstead. He became a Fellow of theRoyal College of Organists (FRCO) in 1907.[3] Between 1911 and 1916 he was the organist atSt James's Church, Paddington.[3]
He served in theRoyal Air Force duringWorld War I.[1]
He became organist at St Michael Cornhill in 1916, and in 1917 was awarded a Mus.Doc. degree from Oxford University.[3] He married Dora Garland, atSt Michaels Church, Cornhill, on 25 July 1918. Dora was a violinist and was the first woman to lead theQueen's Hall Orchestra.[1] He remained at St Michael Cornhill until 1966,[5] except for a brief war-time interregnum in 1941 to deputise forBoris Ord as Director of Music atKing's College, Cambridge.
It is widely accepted that the Cornhill Lunchtime Organ Recitals series begun by Darke in 1916 is the longest-running lunchtime organ concert series in the world. His midday recitals each Monday, playing Bach in the legato style ofSchweitzer, made him a City institution.[6] The series has flourished under his successorsRichard Popplewell 1966–1979 and the present organist,Jonathan Rennert, from 1979. Darke also served as organ professor at the Royal College of Music from 1919 to 1969.[1]
Darke's work as Conductor of St Michael's Singers was crowned in 1956 (on the occasion of the Choir's 40th Anniversary) with first performances of a number of now well-established works composed especially for the occasion – notablyAn English Mass by Herbert Howells,[7]Hierusalem byGeorge Dyson,[8] andA Vision of Aeroplanes byRalph Vaughan Williams.[9]
Darke continued to be active in his later years. He recorded Elgar’s Organ Sonata in his early 70s and gave recitals at theRoyal Festival Hall to mark his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays.[6] He died inCambridge, UK, aged 88 on 28 November 1976.[1]
His famous 1909 setting ofChristina Rossetti's "In the Bleak Midwinter" is often sung at the service ofNine Lessons and Carols atKing's College, Cambridge, and at similar services around the world.[10][11]
In a poll of choral experts and choirmasters that was published inBBC Music Magazine on 7 December 2008, "In the Bleak Midwinter" was voted the greatest Christmas carol of all time.[12] Comparing Darke's setting to another popular setting byGustav Holst, Deputy Editor Jeremy Pound expressed the view that "While Gustav Holst's charming setting of 1909 is rightly loved by millions worldwide, it is the less well known but infinitely more stylish setting by Harold Darke from two years later that convincingly won the day in our poll."[13][14] Together with ‘Cradle Hymn’ and ´A Christmas Carmen’, it is dedicated to Margaret Agnes Calkin.
Most of Darke's other compositions that are still performed are settings of theAnglicanliturgy, especially his threeCommunion Services in E minor, F, and A minor; and hisMagnificat andNunc Dimittis in F.[10][15] The short cantataAs the Leaves Fall, (1917), setting words by the soldier poet Joseph Courtney (1891-1973), has been recorded by theGuildford Cathedral Choir, along with a later cantata,The Kingdom of God (1921), settingFrancis Thompson.[16]
Harold Edwin Darke was born at Highbury, North London, on 29th October, 1888 and was educated at Owen's School, Islington. Early teachers included Arthur Berridge and Fountain Meen …
Harold Edwin Darke (London, 29 October 1888-Cambridge, 28 November 1976) studied with Stanford, Wood and Parry at the Royal College of Music...
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| Preceded by | Organist ofSt Michael, Cornhill 1916–1966 | Succeeded by |
